Man suspected of murder jailed in Okaloosa for violating probation

TOM McLAUGHLIN | Northwest Florida Daily News

Thursday

Jan 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 17, 2013 at 2:22 PM

FORT WALTON BEACH -- A man authorities believe could be responsible for the death of a woman whose body was found in December in Baldwin County, Ala., is being held in Okaloosa County on a violation of probation charge.

FORT WALTON BEACH -- A man authorities believe could be responsible for the death of a woman whose body was found in December in Baldwin County, Ala., is being held in Okaloosa County on a violation of probation charge.

If the theory presented in court Tuesday by Assistant State Attorney John Molchan is correct, Archie Lee Hauck killed Pensacola resident Nancy Craycraft while under house arrest.

However, Hauck has not been charged by sheriff’s offices in Alabama or Florida.

While the death of Craycraft remains under investigation, Bill Bishop, Okaloosa County’s chief assistant state attorney, said his office will seek a 20-year maximum sentence for Hauck for violating community control.

“We are going to seek a very lengthy prison sentence based on the charges we have here,” Bishop said. “If the murder investigation turns into something we can charge, we’ll do that. We just want to be sure we can hold him.”

An evidentiary hearing in the case is scheduled for April 4.

Bishop’s office had requested prison time for Hauck in May 2011 after he pleaded no contest to two counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer and one count of drug possession.

He also had pleaded no contest two years earlier to aggravated assault.

However, Circuit Judge John Brown departed from state sentencing guidelines and ordered Hauck confined under community control — essentially house arrest.

The state attorney’s office appealed Brown’s decision, but it was upheld by Florida’s First District Court of Appeals.

Court records indicate that a warrant was issued Dec. 12, 2011, for Hauck’s arrest for violation of probation. Bishop said Hauck committed the violation by fleeing.

Nearly a year later, on Dec. 10, 2012, records state that case was “reopened.” Hauck was arrested the next day.

Craycraft, 55, was last seen on Oct. 19, 2012, in Hauck’s company at Chan’s bar in Pensacola, according to media accounts from that time.

Her car was found just over the state line in Baldwin County two days after she disappeared

Bones determined to be Craycraft’s remains were discovered by a teenager riding his four-wheeler on Dec. 17.

“There is concern that her death was brought about by violent means,” Capt. Steve Arthur with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office’s investigations division told reporters after the body was found. “We know she was dumped in Baldwin County.”

Contacted Wednesday, Arthur said the Sheriff’s Office has not been able to determine how Craycraft died.

As Molchan said in court Tuesday, authorities still are struggling to determine where Craycraft was killed and in whose jurisdiction.

"We are not at a point in the investigation where we’re going to have enough to charge anyone,” Arthur said.

Arthur said the Sheriff’s Office “still has some people to interview and some people we will probably interview again,” but could really use a break in the case.

“Hopefully, someone will come forward,” he said. “We’re asking the public for any assistance they can provide.”